Editorial: Connecticut schools should change offensive team names

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2012, file photo, Washington Redskins punter Sav Rocca carries a football in his helmet before an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Landover, Md. The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday, June 18, 2014, that the Washington Redskins nickname is "disparaging of Native Americans" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

The Redskins name has been called a hateful slur and the refusal to change it a denigration and dehumanization of Native Americans.

“Taxpayer resources cannot be used to help private companies profit off the promotion of dictionary defined racial slurs,” said Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter and NCAI Executive Director Jackie Pata in a joint statement Wednesday. “If the most basic sense of morality, decency and civility has not yet convinced the Washington team and the NFL to stop using this hateful slur, then hopefully today’s patent ruling will.”

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The 2-1 ruling means the team’s federal trademarks for the name must be canceled, although that’s pending a likely appeal.

The Washington Redskins fiasco should call attention to offensive high school mascots here in Connecticut and spark a discussion about name changes.

At least 23 high school teams in the state have names associated with Native Americans that could be considered offensive, from the Derby and Torrington Red Raiders to the Nonnewaug Chiefs or the Killingly Redmen and Glastonbury Tomahawks. Names containing Indians or Warriors are also popular among the state’s high schools.

But it’s not just the names. At Watertown High School, for example, a sign in its swimming pool area says “Scalp em, injuns.” No explanation needed why that’s offensive.

While these names may have initially been created with the thinking they were honoring Connecticut’s rich history, they are not only offensive, but keep us rooted in a culture of racism that has lingered for too long.

And while a name change may temporarily disrupt the identity of the school and its sports teams, if done right, it can be successful and be used to the school’s advantage.

Quinnipiac University, for example, changed the names of its sports teams and mascot in 2002 from Braves to Bobcats. The university held a contest among students for name and mascot suggestions. After several successful athletic years — especially in hockey — it appears most fans feel like they were always Bobcats.

At the time the name change was announced, Lynn Bushnell, vice president for public affairs, issued a statement that said “the university community clearly recognized the difficulties of using a name that has the potential to misrepresent and denigrate an entire group of people. And, despite our clear intention to honor and remember the Native Americans once known as the Quinnipiaks, to do so only through athletics was found to be no longer appropriate.”

Several high schools have followed suit. Newtown changed its name from Indians to Nighthawks. Its old Indian chief mascot had previously been discarded.